American hunters love bullets, and for good reason. Ultimately, it’s the bullet that is responsible for making the kill. Jacketed bullets were the thing in the 1880s, and the ability to expand or mushroom the bullet was developed in the 1890s. Velocities increased to the 3000 f.p.s mark by 1910 and expanding bullets really upped the ante between WWI and WWII. So many bullets have come out ever since, and it’s impossible to claim that you’re entirely aware of everything that’s available.

The Underlying Principles

The basic principles used to make frangible projectiles haven’t changed for more than a century. Two underlying principles you need to be aware of are that velocity has always been against bullet performance and bullet expansion causes greater resistance, decreasing the chances of a successful penetration. Varmint bullets often come apart upon impact and this is great for non-edible pests because it reduces the chances of a ricochet. However, you need a bullet that stays put when dealing with big game. Some prefer complete penetration, stating that exit wounds make it easy to follow the animal. Others want their bullets to stay within the animal, making sure that the energy isn’t wasted on trees and rocks. And both choices deserve equal merit. The third thing that you need to understand is that bullet weight can actually help cover up flaws in bullet perfmance.

The Bullet Shape

Bullets tended to be round or flat-pointed when the tubular magazine lever action was popular. However, modern day frangible bullets rely on sharp points to retain better velocity. However, increased velocity isn’t usually a thing for many. Take the case of a deer hunter. One would always prefer a blunt-nosed bullet knowing all too well that it tends to deliver a far better impact.

The Tipped Bullet

Tipped bullets were introduced in the eighties with Nosler’s Ballistic Tip. The tip is driven into the bullet upon impact, allowing for quick expansion. However, the absence of design features often meant that the bullet wasn’t the most beautiful thing to look at once recovered. Many preferred the Bronze Point, but most would agree that it expanded way too quickly. These frangible bullets are great for mid-sized game, but one would always prefer a tougher companion while hunting larger game.

The Bonded Bullet

The Bitterroot Bullet of the 60s was the first chemically bonded bullet, a bullet that uses chemical bonding in its core for excellent expansion without having to suffer from weight loss. These bullets may not offer the most penetrating designs, but they retain most of their weight while penetrating the body to offer a decent combination of penetration and expansion. However, bonded bullets aren’t always the most accurate choice and their complex design often makes them more expensive as well.

The Homogenous Bullet

The Barnes X was the first bullet made without a lead core. These lead free bullets have polymer tips and they tend to expand due to their skived noses. Expansion in such bullets is usually limited and the bullet can only shed off its weight by shearing off its petals.

Today, manufacturers are concentrating on frangible bullets that offer greater reliability and better aerodynamics across the velocity spectrum. Bullets like the Browning BXR Deer Centerfire Rifle Ammo present rapid expansion ballistic tips that offer a decent balance between design features and expansion. ELD-X is another popular hunting bullet that offers consistent expansion from up close to a distance of roughly 300 yards.

Our initial foray with radiation didn’t go as expected. Marie Curie succumbed to her death due to exposure to radium. Thomas Edison stopped research into the fluoroscope after his assistant died with x-ray overdose. Today, we have a far better understanding of radiation and the dangers it poses to the human body. We also have adequate radiation shielding measures, but we still tend to get complacent, often overlooking this odorless colorless threat.

One of the biggest dangers can be seen in hospitals, as has been highlighted by the New York Times in a series of exposes on radiation treatment over-exposure and accidents. In fact, the primary sources of excessive radiation are computed tomography, fluoroscopy and nuclear medicine.

So Why Is It Still An Issue?

Sure, we all understand the dangers posed by radiation, but we tend to get complacent while using tools on a day-to-day basis. One of the biggest causes of over-exposure is that many workers in the field only receive rudimentary radiation protection training. Most are unfamiliar with the various sources of exposure and know very little about reducing risks and implementing proper radiation shielding measures. A vascular surgeon or an interventional cardiologist is as exposed to the dangers of radiation as a radiologist. However, while radiologists have a radiologic technologist to support them (individuals who receive proper radiation safety training), surgeons and cardiologists have nurses to support them, most of who likely receive little to no training at all.

There is the case of using more radiation than necessary as well. The US stresses on the best-quality images, and this means more radiation. This isn’t the case in Japan or Europe where radiation protection and safety is paramount. After all, one doesn’t need excessive radiation to produce a decent workable image.

What AboutRadiation Shielding? Who’s Keeping a Check?

Radiation protection is the responsibility of technologists and radiation safety officers who work in a particular department. The radiation safety officer keeps a track of workers’ exposure to radiation and ensures that all safety guidelines are met. An external company presents exposure assessment on a monthly basis. The state performs an inspection once or twice a year as well. In addition to these measures, the Joint Commission requires all hospitals to have written procedures regarding the precautions to take while using hazardous equipment and ensure that enough radiation shielding materials and protective devices are available to keep worker exposure in check. However, it’s easy to become a victim to complacency and bad habits.

Improving Safety Standards

Everything isn’t gloom and doom when it comes to radiation exposure. The good news is that with a few key changes, it is easy to bring the level of exposure in check. The first step that any hospital needs to take is to ensure that all workers working around radiation are made to undertake a radiation safety course. It is equally important to ensure proper communication within the healthcare team and make each worker understand that radiation safety is a part of the team’s job and not a responsibility of one individual. Controlling patient dosage is also important as most workers get exposed to radiation due to radiation scatter from the patient.

Other safety mechanisms that need to be looked at include radiation shielding. Hospitals need to make the most of the different kinds of radiation shielding materials available, but they also need to ensure that these devices are used effectively.

Another area that often gets overlooked is the positioning of the tube that creates the x-ray. The detector should be as close to the patient as possible so as to block any scatter radiation and also improve image quality. Many operators find it convenient to keep the detector further away so that it can be moved easily and this usually accounts for as much as 60% more radiation in some cases.

Radiation is essential for diagnostics, but it should be given the respect it deserves. There is a lot of scope for improvement in radiation safety practices, and the healthcare industry needs each person involved to step up and commit themselves to use radiation in a safer, more organized manner, for the betterment of the community.

Radiation poisoning and the lack of radiation shielding has been one of the biggest concerns facing deep space astronauts for decades.Radiation includes electro-magnetic radiation such as radio waves, x-rays, alpha and beta rays in addition to acoustic radiation such as ultrasound and seismic waves.

Truly determine the possibility of coming up with a safe and secure measure for deep space radiation shielding, this project tried to overcome one of the biggest challenges, the weight of the magnet, by focusing its energies on superconductors as these materials do not offer electrical resistance at incredibly low temperatures, something that is all too common in deep space.